Black and white
Save your search and find it in your favorites
Saved search
Your search is accessible from the favorites tab > My favorite searches
Unsaved search
A problem occurred
No31 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,925
No62 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,925
No22 SPIRIT Series
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 120 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 47.2 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,925
WetWay
Yevgeniy Repiashenko
Photography - 80 x 120 x 0.1 cm Photography - 31.5 x 47.2 x 0 inch
$2,925
Fesse homme
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 36 x 53 x 1 cm Photography - 14.2 x 20.9 x 0.4 inch
$781
Femme allongée
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 24 x 36 x 1 cm Photography - 9.4 x 14.2 x 0.4 inch
$781
Homme sous moustiquaire
Emmanuelle Barbaras
Photography - 43 x 28 x 1 cm Photography - 16.9 x 11 x 0.4 inch
$781
Danza de fortuna. From the series, Danza de fortuna
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Sugoi fairy Yoshii fairy
Akiza
Painting - 120 x 115 x 10 cm Painting - 47.2 x 45.3 x 3.9 inch
$3,795
Il balcone vista al mare
Daiane Soares
Photography - 70 x 100 cm Photography - 27.6 x 39.4 inch
$2,009
Sans titre (Un jour, une photo)
Aline Part
Photography - 67 x 50 x 0.2 cm Photography - 26.4 x 19.7 x 0.1 inch
$558
Would you swim with me?
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 30 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$212
Jambes Blanches
Jean-Pierre Fleury
Photography - 80 x 60 x 3 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$1,284
Secret d'alcove
Jean-Pierre Fleury
Photography - 80 x 60 x 3 cm Photography - 31.5 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$1,284
Would you swim with me? XVI
Grzegorz Sikorski
Photography - 52.5 x 70 x 0.1 cm Photography - 20.7 x 27.6 x 0 inch
$212
Les Acrobates IV
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
$3,500
Pouvoir et soumission
Joël Gros
Photography - 50 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 19.7 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$670
En La Florida (Identity Promises Series)
Imanol Marrodán
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$558
Silencio de nieve (Identity Testimonies series)
Imanol Marrodán
Photography - 30 x 45 x 0.1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 17.7 x 0 inch
$558
Over the Wall 3
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 60 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
$726
Over the Wall 1
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 60 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
$726
Around the corner
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 60 x 45 x 3 cm Photography - 23.6 x 17.7 x 1.2 inch
$726
Motel Bathroom 2
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 45 x 60 x 3 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$726
Motel Bathroom 1
Thomas Louvagny
Photography - 45 x 60 x 3 cm Photography - 17.7 x 23.6 x 1.2 inch
$726
Gone with the Wind
Lesya Rozova
Photography - 60 x 90 x 0.1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 35.4 x 0 inch
$753
Les Acrobates I
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
$3,500
Les Acrobates II
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
$3,500
Les Acrobates III
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
$3,500
Les Acrobates V
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 0.3 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 0.1 inch
$3,500
Les Acrobates VI
Uwe Ommer
Photography - 90.2 x 69.9 x 69.9 cm Photography - 35.5 x 27.5 x 27.5 inch
$3,500
Udo could have been a woman like the others
Udo Roosen
Photography - 60 x 60 x 1 cm Photography - 23.6 x 23.6 x 0.4 inch
$1,340
The Ant Anthony Fawcett
Arthur Steel
Photography - 66 x 86 x 1 cm Photography - 26 x 33.9 x 0.4 inch
$3,014
Stonehenge Model
Arthur Steel
Photography - 66 x 86 x 1 cm Photography - 26 x 33.9 x 0.4 inch
$3,014
La mirada d’Apol·lo
Martí Sala
Photography - 30 x 40 x 1 cm Photography - 11.8 x 15.7 x 0.4 inch
$781
Black and white on skate
Themanfromthefuture Urano
Painting - 105 x 33 x 0.1 cm Painting - 41.3 x 13 x 0 inch
$435
Irida XIII
Laurence Winram
Photography - 84.1 x 59.4 x 0.2 cm Photography - 33.1 x 23.4 x 0.1 inch
$628
Roarie XXVI
Laurence Winram
Photography - 84.1 x 59.4 x 0.2 cm Photography - 33.1 x 23.4 x 0.1 inch
$628
Man against Wall, Two
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Man against Wall, One
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Infinity Man, Two
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Men & Palm Tree
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Palm Climb, Two
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Caballero, Two
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Folding man Two: From Motion Series
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Folding man One: From Motion Series
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Man Curve Four: From Motion Series
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Man Curve One: From Motion Series
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Man Back One: From Motion Series
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Untitled 2: from the Blanco Series. Archival Pigment print, Sepia
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 91.4 x 61 x 0.3 cm Photography - 36 x 24 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Untitled, Sepia
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Hombre en red
Ricky Cohete
Photography - 76.2 x 50.8 x 0.3 cm Photography - 30 x 20 x 0.1 inch
$2,222
Black and white
Before the arrival of photography – with the exception of some etchings and lithographs – all the images we consumed were in colour. Quite simply, because no one would ever have thought to do anything else – why paint in black and white when colour was so readily available?
Yet despite this, today many photographers still choose to work in black and white – such as Pauline Théon, Kadir Von Lohuizen or Joh Lowenstein – even though their photos are taken in colour by the camera itself. Is the black and white trend a fleeting effect of fashion, or a symbolic return to the roots of the photography movement? Black and white photography has something that colour photos, despite recent innovations and the extraordinary quality of images today, cannot quite access. The use of black and white lends significant force to the composition: the contrasts, the shadows and the figures all stand out more strongly. People simply feel differently when faced with a colour photo versus a black and white image.
Colour is a distraction of sorts, a disturbance: colour is a nuisance.
And yet, some photographers still prefer colour to black and white, whilst others merge touches of colour with otherwise monochrome compositions. But in the end, all agree that both styles impose a totally different way of looking at a photo: from researching the shot to post production work, when artists develop or retouch the image. The use of colour is therefore something of a process in its own right, relating to two different ways of viewing the world and showing it others. The question, then, is what is being told, and why is it being in the way that it is?
The symbolic value of putting black and white together is a good starting point for reflecting on the fascination that they generate even today. There could not be a more fascinating, more striking ambivalence than when black, the 'colour' of darkness and burnt coal, considered a non-colour, is placed alongside white – representing light, and the result of all the colours merged together.
The problem faced by photographers today is that black and white still carry strong connotations of the past, of an era before the popularisation of colour and its massive cultural recovery amongst the press and photo journalists. In fact, it is rare now that contemporary subjects are photographed in colour, but we still associate black and white images with a retro feel.
So what does contemporary art have to say about it all? Discover Artsper's selection of black and white works: on the border of past and present, of the real and the imaginary… let us guide you!